submedia: Who Are the Anarchists?: Why Resistance Is Coming from Below

America is in the throes of crisis. Polling as the least popular starting President in history, Donald Trump has taken the reins and intends to force his agenda on the world by brute force. Alongside him, outright white supremacists are coming out of the woodwork, convinced that their time has arrived. Millions who once counted on the Democratic Party are losing faith in the entire political system. Can anything be done to halt the rise of tyranny?

This is the context in which anarchists are once again returning to the stage of history and the front page of the New York Times. Neither voting nor passive protest has worked, and the popular imagination is shifting towards open confrontation. Even Trump himself is tweeting allegations about “Professional anarchists, thugs and paid protesters.” Fancy that—a billionaire who hired actors for his campaign launch, accusing working-class protesters of being mercenaries.